Archaelund

About

"Archaelund is a single-player Role Playing Game with an interesting plot and good graphics. The game offers exploration in a vast open world with first-person perspective and seamless transition to top-down perspective for turn-based combat. Characters have a deep and engaging progression system, starting from street ruffians, squires, hunters or beggars and advancing through a career-based system."

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

85%

Audience ScoreBased on 215 reviews

story12 positive mentions

stability7 negative mentions

Archaelund combines old-school RPG elements with modern features, providing an immersive first-person exploration experience and strategic turn-based combat.
The character creation system is deep and allows for a variety of party compositions, enhancing replayability and player choice.
Despite being in early access, the game shows promise with engaging gameplay, a rich world, and a responsive developer who actively addresses player feedback.

The game suffers from significant balance issues, particularly in combat, where RNG can lead to frustrating experiences and a lack of meaningful progression.
Loading times are lengthy, and the game can be buggy, with some players experiencing crashes and other technical issues.
The world feels sparse and underdeveloped in certain areas, leading to a sense of emptiness and a lack of engaging content outside of combat.

story
44 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
66%
7%
The game's story is praised for its engaging world-building, humor, and the depth of character interactions, offering players a rich narrative experience that encourages exploration and strategic thinking. However, some players find the quest system vague and poorly structured, leading to confusion about progression and mission requirements. Overall, while the story has potential and captivates many, it currently suffers from inconsistencies and a lack of clarity in quest design.
- “The world, the storyline, the characters, different dialog options leading to different results - real role-playing!”
- “I could probably talk for twenty minutes about my appreciation for the in-depth character and quest design, but the lore is what placed Exiled Kingdoms squarely atop the pedestal as one of the most interesting and exciting games I've ever played.”
- “The story complements the gameplay well, with a unique world and lore that holds your interest.”
- “The storyline does not make much sense, and missions are locked behind faction points as well as skills, and there are not many missions.”
- “In an RPG like this, if you give me quests, I'm going to try to do the ones closest to town first, but the quests are very vague. If you don't complete the easy couple ones in the first town, you can spend a lot of time wondering how to get XP and where to progress, as the first 'major' quest requires you to have reputation with the first town.”
- “The environment does feel a little too much like a backdrop or painting for interactions with combatant or quest-giving NPCs.”
gameplay
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
70%
10%
The gameplay of Archaelund offers a solid and engaging experience, with nuanced mechanics that reflect the developers' passion, despite some areas needing improvement, such as UI and animations. Players can expect around 30-40 hours of content even in its early access state, though the game can be challenging, particularly at the start. While some mechanics are still not implemented and certain aspects like flanking and accuracy could use refinement, the overall gameplay is enjoyable and well-suited for fans of the genre.
- “Would absolutely recommend this game, even at this early state in early access, with only 2 regions implemented so far, since you're already looking at 30-40 hours of gameplay with plenty more to come.”
- “The gameplay is that well crafted; you can tell that this game is a work of passion for the creator, not just a 9 to 5.”
- “Yes, gameplay is a little challenging at times (even on the lowest difficulty), but it's possible to save frequently, making it much less frustrating.”
- “I understand why they're there, and why devs think they're needed/interesting, but you can just as easily bake the hidden functionality in an awareness stat, or a single perception skill with little to no effect on the gameplay experience.”
- “In fact, everything is pretty basic besides the core gameplay, as expected from a small dev team.”
- “Add in a terrible flanking mechanic that is crucial due to how bad the accuracy system is at telling your actual hit chance, and the multitude of classes that benefit from flanking makes it an experience of RNG over skill or strategy.”
graphics
29 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
52%
10%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some praising their detail and beauty, likening them to classic titles like Skyrim and Morrowind, while others criticize them as outdated and reminiscent of 90s games. Players note that the graphics can be demanding on hardware despite not being cutting-edge, leading to performance issues on lower-end systems. Overall, while the visuals are appreciated by some, they are not the main focus of the game, which leans more on gameplay and exploration.
- “I was smitten from the sample that I played from the smooth gameplay and detailed graphics of the game, beautiful orchestral soundtrack.”
- “The graphics and lighting are quite nice to look at even though some people would think it's outdated.”
- “Exploration/environment: the open world exploration style along with details in graphics and colors is, as others have said, reminiscent of Skyrim or Morrowind.”
- “Sorry, but the graphics and gameplay are worse than games I played in the 90s.”
- “You can clearly tell this is their first ever game; it's not that good graphically, and the modeling and action movement animations, like casting and fighting, look rudimentary.”
- “My biggest issue is that I have to play on the lowest graphic settings possible with 720p just to get 30fps.”
optimization
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
40%
30%
The game's optimization is currently lacking, with numerous bugs and performance issues reported by users. Many players note the need for significant improvements, particularly in loading times and memory usage, suggesting that the game requires extensive work to reach a polished state. As it is still in early access, there is hope that future updates will enhance its overall optimization and performance.
- “Optimization is not only encouraged but a necessity.”
- “I think I will make an optimized party on my second campaign.”
- “It's only early access now, so I'm sure when the game is finished it will be much more polished, optimized, smoother, etc.”
- “At the moment it needs a lot of bug fixes, balance changes, and optimization.”
- “It's janky, old school, in somewhat desperate need of loading time optimization (only on reloading, not area transitions so much), and is going to need about 2 years worth of work to be complete.”
- “It's also poorly optimized and has issues eating up memory.”
music
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
The music in the game has received high praise for being atmospheric and fitting well with the various locations, enhancing the overall experience without being intrusive. Reviewers highlight the quality of the soundtrack as a standout feature, contributing to the game's promising potential despite its early access status.
- “The music is great, atmospheric without getting in the way.”
- “The soundtrack and the graphics are, for all the novelty of the game being helmed by a singular developer, amazing.”
- “Music is decent and fits the atmosphere of each location.”
atmosphere
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
71%
43%
The game's atmosphere is described as inviting and intriguing, blending elements reminiscent of classic RPGs like Skyrim and Baldur's Gate. The visuals and music effectively enhance the experience, creating a captivating environment that keeps players engaged and curious about the unfolding questline. Overall, the atmosphere is praised for its depth and fitting ambiance across various locations.
- “This creates a very nice and weirdly inviting atmosphere, a nice contrast.”
- “The music is great, atmospheric without getting in the way.”
- “The game has truly a great atmosphere and questline which really makes you curious what happens next.”
- “The game's atmosphere feels uninspired and lacks the depth needed to immerse players fully.”
- “While the visuals are reminiscent of Skyrim, they fail to create a unique identity, making the world feel bland.”
- “The sound design is underwhelming, with music that doesn't enhance the atmosphere or evoke any real emotion.”
stability
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is marked by slow and buggy saves, occasional crashes, and minor visual glitches, though most issues are not intrusive. While some critical bugs exist, the developer is responsive to feedback and has been quick to implement patches. Overall, the game is somewhat buggy and unoptimized, but the quick fixes help improve the experience.
- “Slow and buggy saves seem to be the main problem, but only a small portion of the finished product seems to be available.”
- “Going to run across some bugs, maybe crashes, graphical glitches, and bad pathing in the terrain.”
- “It has a limited amount of content and is somewhat buggy and unoptimized.”
grinding
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be more tedious than enjoyable, particularly at low levels, with many noting that the current content feels repetitive and lacks balance. While there is potential for improvement, the overall experience is marred by the excessive grind required for leveling up, leading to a recommendation for further polishing and content expansion.
- “Sadly it’s more tedious than fun.”
- “Even for early access, everything is tedious.”
- “It's just too tedious leveling up.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is highly praised, with players enjoying the witty dialogue that adds a lighthearted touch to the otherwise serious setting filled with profound mysteries and dark secrets. This blend of humor and storytelling enhances the overall experience, making exploration enjoyable and engaging.
- “What can I say? I love the world and the storytelling, the humor, and discovering new stuff in the world.”
- “The game is full of humorous dialogue, which made Exiled Kingdoms a blast, even though the setting is serious and there are implications of profound mysteries and dark secrets.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is criticized for lacking depth, with players feeling disconnected due to generic combat encounters and the absence of voice acting or meaningful character interactions. This results in a frustrating experience that fails to engage players on an emotional level.
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Players find "Archaelund" to have significant replayability, even in its early access phase, drawing comparisons to other highly replayable games like "EK." The game's design and content encourage multiple playthroughs, enhancing its long-term appeal.
- “Even early access is amazing and has a lot of replay value.”
- “So far, Archaelund has presented itself to be an immensely replayable game, just as EK is.”
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The monetization model is praised for avoiding pay-to-win mechanics and microtransactions, focusing instead on solid game design.
- “No pay-to-win mechanics or microtransactions, just good game design!”
- “The monetization model is fair and respects players' time and investment.”
- “I appreciate that the game offers plenty of content without forcing me to spend extra money.”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
300%
Character development is highly dynamic, offering a vast array of skill and capability combinations for each character, which can complicate the process of forming a party.
- “Character development is truly dynamic with innumerable possible combinations for skills and capabilities across every character, which makes it challenging to settle on a party.”
- “The depth of character development allows for unique playstyles, making each character feel distinct and tailored to my preferences.”
- “I love how the character development system encourages experimentation, letting me explore different builds and strategies throughout the game.”
- “Character development feels shallow and lacks meaningful choices, making it hard to connect with the characters.”
- “The progression system is overly complicated, leading to confusion rather than excitement in developing my character.”
- “I found the character arcs to be predictable and uninspired, leaving me disappointed with the overall development.”